The hearing on the petition against the decision to delay the elections of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been adjourned till Friday ie tomorrow.
The five-member Supreme Court bench hearing the case was dissolved on Thursday after Justice Aminuddin excused himself from the hearing.
During the hearing on Thursday, the court staff read out a part of the order which states that the case will be set before a bench which does not include Justice Aminuddin Khan.
The five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial included Justice Ijazul Hasan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhel.
However, when the hearing on the matter began on Thursday, Justice Aminuddin, who was part of the bench, excused himself from the hearing of the case following the recent decision of the Supreme Court under Section 184/3.
A bench consisting of Justice Qazi Faiz Isa and Justice Aminuddin had decided yesterday that all cases under 184/3 should be postponed until the legislation on the issue of judicial reforms is passed.
This petition of Tehreek-e-Insaf on the issue of elections was filed under Article 184/3 of the Constitution.
What else was in Justice Fire Jesus’ judgment?
In a written decision issued by a three-member bench headed by Justice Qazi Faiz Isa of the Supreme Court yesterday, it was said that the power of self-notice should not be used until the amendment of the Supreme Court Rules, until the formation of benches. The powers of the Chief Justice related to all cases are not modified.
This decision was given by him in the ratio of two to one during the hearing of the case regarding giving 20 extra marks in medical degree to Hafaz Quran.
In this written decision, Justice Qazi Faiz Isa and Justice Aminuddin decided to postpone the cases under suo motu notice while Justice Shahid Waheed disagreed with the majority decision.
The written judgment, issued in a two-to-one ratio, held that special benches were not envisaged as per the bench constitution rules.
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According to the judgment: ‘The Chief Justice has no power to remove a judge from the bench after the bench has been constituted.’
It was written in the judgment that ‘The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice and all the judges. The Constitution does not empower the Chief Justice to create special benches of his choice and add judges of his choice.’
In this decision, it was further said that ‘judges should be held accountable to restore public confidence in the judiciary. The procedure for bench formation and allocating cases should be clear and transparent.
The 12-page judgment also said that the “Constitution and Rules do not allow the Chief Justice to constitute a special bench. There are rules in respect of petitions under Article 184/3, but for the appointment of suo motu cases and the bench.” There are no roles to create. Hearing on important constitutional and automatic cases should be postponed until the formation of rules.
Apart from this, the judgment said that decisions in Article 184/3 cases had profound effects on politics and economy. The word somoto does not exist anywhere in the constitution.
According to the judgment: ‘Judges are sworn to act in accordance with the Constitution and the law. Judges decide the punishment or punishment of other people, keeping judges away from accountability is morally, legally and religiously wrong.’
When did PTI file the application?
In the joint session of the National Assembly on March 22, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said in his statement that ‘elections on April 30 are not possible, so we want elections to be held simultaneously in the entire country in October’, after which the Election Commission The Office of Pakistan postponed the Punjab provincial elections scheduled for April 30 and gave a new date of October 8.
However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf filed a joint constitutional petition in the Supreme Court objecting to the Election Commission and the government’s decision.
The Federation, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Law and Cabinet were also made parties in this constitutional petition filed on March 25.
The PTI had requested the Supreme Court to annul the decision of the Election Commission and said that the Election Commission had deviated from the constitutional mandate and the court’s decision.
The petition said that the Election Commission should be ordered to conduct the elections in the province on April 30 as per the schedule.
In the application, the decision of the Election Commission was requested to be annulled.
President of Pakistan Arif Alvi also said in a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that the Prime Minister should direct the provincial governments and federal departments to avoid contempt of court and support the Election Commission for timely elections.
